


A Sparrabeth Alphabet

by Ultra



Series: Sparrabeth Alphabet [1]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Confessions, Developing Relationship, Drunkenness, F/M, Friendship/Love, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, Pirate Elizabeth, Post-At World's End, Pregnancy, Sailing, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-10
Updated: 2011-04-10
Packaged: 2019-07-02 11:26:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 10,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15795546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: Jack needs Elizabeth's help to get the Black Pearl back and find the Fountain of Youth. Along the way, they realise their feelings for each other. [A Sparrabeth tale told in 26 alphabetical one-shot scenes]





	1. A is for... Ana-Maria

“No, Jack. Under no circumstances are you taking the Empress,” Elizabeth insisted as she stood opposite him on the deck of said ship.

Her hands were on her hips and her eyes flashed with determination - she had never been more beautiful.

“ _Borrow_ , Lizzie” he corrected, gesturing as he did with his hands. “T’would be but a lend of your fine vessel,” he assured her, and yet the lady seemed unconvinced.

“No,” she repeated, “absolutely not,” she told him definitely, turning away.

Elizabeth knew she should start walking now, and have Jack tossed off her ship entirely before he could cause any more trouble, and yet she didn’t even move.

“Why not?” he pouted, though she didn’t see it, she could imagine it all the same.

Without looking back, she replied;

“One word - Ana-Maria.”

Jack reeled a bit at that, knowing where this conversation now tended. All girls together, battle of the sexes, and all that. He could well do without such a conversation as this and hence did his level best to wriggle out of it.

“Actually, that’s two words, luv,” he told her easily, “or in fact not words at all but a name,” he corrected annoyingly with a smirk to match as she turned back to look his way.

The expression on her face immediately silenced him from further rambling.

“You took her ship,” she reminded him, stepping in closer and pointing a finger that soon dug into his chest. “You sank it, promised her another, and left her high and dry!” she accused, all of which there was no denying on Jack’s part.

“Yes,” he said at length, “I did do that” he admitted, knowing he had little or no choice in the matter.

The trouble of it was, as much as they both knew talking his way out of this one was not going to be an easy task, he would somehow manage to do it.

After all, he was Captain Jack Sparrow, and even Elizabeth knew he would convince her eventually; he always did.


	2. B is for... Blush

“Jack Sparrow!” his name came loud and clear from somewhere behind him.

“ _Captain_ Jack Sparrow,” he corrected, a complete reflex reaction that he ought to have held back considering who was calling for him. “Ah, Captain Swann.”

He looked just a little nervous when he realised it was Elizabeth.

She was at his side now, glaring in that way that only a woman ever could, in fact he had never seen such an expression but on her face, truth be told.

“What are you doing at the helm?” she asked, moving him aside to take the wheel herself.

She had tried for harsh in her tone, but failed miserably and she knew it.

Unfortunately, it always did seem right and proper for Jack to be in control of a ship, and yet this was her vessel not his and she would not have him undermine her, especially not in front of the crew.

To his credit, Jack did back off, hands raised in some kind of surrender, though he didn’t go far.

“Force of habit, luv,” he all but apologised, but then she never did expect the word ‘sorry’ to actually pass his lips.

“This is not the Pearl, Jack,” she reminded him, her eyes fixed on the horizon they were headed for. “Remember, whilst you are here, you are under me.”

The very moment those words left her lips, Elizabeth knew what a terrible mistake she’d made.

“Oh, that it were true, darlin’.” Jack smirked, tipping her a wink as he strolled away, awfully proud of himself for such a remark, she was sure.

The heat rose in her cheeks and turned her a terrible shade of scarlet, she was absolutely certain, and yet Elizabeth could not help it.

“Pirates don’t blush,” she muttered crossly to herself, once she was sure Jack would not hear.

Her own words though had no effect on her complexion, not like his had so easily done, such was the effect of Captain Jack Sparrow.


	3. C is for... Compass

“You really believe this map leads to the Fountain of Youth?” asked Elizabeth, looking sceptical at best, as her hands and eyes traced the lines on the old scroll of paper laid out before her at the helm of the ship.

“Guaranteed, luv,” Jack assured her, peering over her shoulder, “And should we stumble upon the Pearl on our voyage, all the better, aye?” he smiled, flashing gold teeth she had become accustomed to.

Elizabeth sighed, unsure why she always struggled to say no to an adventure such as this, even when she knew it was ridiculous.

Moreover, she struggled with saying no to Jack somehow.

“Why wouldn’t you just use your compass to find what you want?” she suggested, shaking herself out of a momentary daze and checking the course.

Jack stood behind her a pace, opened up said compass and shut the lid down again fast before she looked back at him.

“Still broken,” he claimed with an awkward smile, and though the expression on her face suggested she wasn’t so very sure she believed him she said not a word about it.

Jack let out a breath he was hardly aware he was holding as she turned away again.

Best not to mention that his special compass would still point at nothing but Elizabeth herself, he thought, since he hadn’t quite figured out what that meant himself yet.


	4. D is for... Dress

For months she had lived in clothes that were all but meant for men, but today was different, as Elizabeth emerged from the Captain’s cabin, much to the surprise of her crew, wearing the only dress she had onboard.

No-one was willing to question her outfit, nor why she sat alone at a gap in the railings around the edge of the ship, looking out to sea in silence, or even why today she had decided that she needed to drink her way through several bottles of rum.

Of course, eventually, her strange behaviour got the better of one crew member.

“Not that you don’t look lovely, Lizzie, but does the dress serve a certain purpose on this particular day?” asked Jack as he came to sit beside her, uninvited.

“No,” she answered sharply, entirely on reflex, immediately changing her mind with a heavy-hearted sigh. “Yes,” she admitted, putting the rum bottle back to her lips for another drag.

Jack picked the vessel from her hand the very next moment, and though she looked as if she might protest, she never actually bothered as she watched him take a drink.

He was waiting for her explanation, but he wasn’t going to ask again.

“It would be... It _is_ ,” she corrected herself. “It is my father’s birthday.” She smiled a sad smile. “I just thought I should look more as he would remember me. Does that sound foolish?” she asked, bringing her eyes from the ocean to look at Jack.

“Not a bit, luv,” he assured her, “but y’know, I reckon whatever you wear and whatever you did or do, old Governor Swann would be proud as punch to have you for a daughter. You’re a hell of a woman, Elizabeth, and he knew that,” he told her sincerely as he had ever said anything, as far as she could tell.

Tears welled in her eyes, partly from the memories of her poor dear father, but just as much from hearing those kindly spoken words from a man she could honestly call a friend these days.

“Thank you, Jack,” she said in all but a whisper as she leaned into him a little.

Whilst it occurred to him that he was close as ever to Lizzie right now, the dress a stark reminder of her womanly curves and charms, he didn’t make any moves that might be all too correctly construed.

Jack just put a comforting arm around her shoulders and held her close for as long as she needed - it was nice to be needed, he’d come to find, and not so very difficult to realise that perhaps he needed her too.


	5. E is for... Empty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This scene follows on swiftly behind ‘D is for Dress’.

“Pass another bottle,” said Elizabeth, looking to Jack for assistance when she realised the vessel in her hand was now completely devoid of rum. “Please,” she thought to add all of a sudden, her lady-like manners not completely abandoned to piracy and drunkenness apparently.

“Wish I could oblige, dearie,” he told her, holding her with one arm still as he had been for hours, his other hand reaching out to the row of bottles behind them, “but all appears to be lost rum-wise. Every bottle empty as you please,” he said, as he turned his head a little to double-check and found he was indeed right. “This isn’t all the rum onboard, is it?” he asked her, worriedly.

Elizabeth shook her head against his shoulder, a yawn escaping her suddenly.

“I know how those bottles feel sometimes.” She sighed, looking out across the sea that appeared an inky black in the darkness of late evening. “Empty,” she said too softly, with a terrible sadness in her voice that Jack could not and would not bear.

“’Ere now,” he said, jostling her head from his shoulder, ignoring the fact it felt quite nice there up to now. “Less of that, Lizzie, or I shall see to it your title of Pirate King is swept out from under you faster than you can say... don’t take my title away from me,” he said, frowning a little as he realised that hadn’t come out quite as intended.

It wasn’t all the rum that was slowing down his mind though, at least Jack was pretty sure it wasn’t, more so it was Elizabeth herself, gazing up at him so fragile and sad.

“See here, Captain Swann,” he said, waving a finger in her face as if to scold her like a child. “All this black thinking and empty twaddle you’re so fond of today, you need to snap out of it, savvy?” he told her definitely. “’S no good to you or to anyone.”

“Easy for you to say,” she said grumpily, shifting her body out of his embrace and turning away from him with her arms folded across her chest. “My mother is gone, my father followed, and Will is so far away...” she said, emotion making her voice quiver. “Who do I really have to care anymore?”

Whether she was fishing for kindness from him or just genuinely feeling the pull of maudling self pity trying to drag her under, Jack couldn’t be sure, but he wasn’t playing this game with her anymore.

Elizabeth felt Jack move to get up, heard the clinking of glass on glass as he collected up all the empty rum bottles they had abandoned on the deck; she hoped he wasn’t really just going to walk away from her without so much as a word.

“If you really think there’s no-one here who cares, luv,” he told her quietly, “then emptiness be the least of your worries, a long stretch behind blindness.”


	6. F is for... Fight

It had been necessary to stop at the next port that came along, to restock on various important supplies, not least food, water, and of course that pirate necessity that was rum.

Crew members had been dispatched to fetch what was needed, whilst others were left behind to guard the ship, a task that (against her better judgement) Captain Swann had allowed Jack Sparrow to be in charge of.

This was why Elizabeth was eternally grateful to return and find her ship still where she left it and in no worse damage than when she had walked away a couple of hours before - the same could not be said for the condition of the lady herself.

“Ah, Elizabeth.” Her fellow Captain greeted her with a flourish, and a hand that helped her back aboard. “I must say I was... What’s this then?” he asked, his smile turning to a frown as he took her chin in his hand and inspected the purple bruise already forming around her right eye.

“It’s nothing, Jack,” she insisted, pulling her face from his grasp and turning away. “A fight that got out of hand is all it was.”

“Fight over what?” he asked, curious to know, calling behind her as she strode away. “And with whom?”

“Something and nothing!” she yelled back over her shoulder. “A misunderstanding over... a bottle of rum, with a pair of scoundrels twice my size.” She smirked to herself, glad he could not see.

“Twice your size, dear Lizzie?” he checked, stroking his beard she noticed as she paused and glanced back a moment. “And yet, only the one bruise to show for such an altercation?”

“Yes,” she replied sharply, just a little put out that he seemed not to believe her.

Of course, she thought to herself as she headed back to her cabin, there was no reason why he should believe such a tale. She was not so quick to believe the stories he told her, since at least half had been proven false. There were elements of truth in her account, she reminded herself, as she peered at herself in the cracked mirror in her cabin, carefully fingering the swelling flesh around her eye and wincing. This did happen in pursuit of a drink, on the way into a tavern in fact, it was just that the two large scoundrels were less men and more swinging doors at the entrance, one of which clocked her squarely in her face... but Jack and the crew didn’t need to know that.


	7. G is for... Gold

Jack had been waiting more than an hour for Elizabeth to return to the tavern and was just starting to wonder about her when she appeared in the doorway.

He had ordered two more bottles of rum before she ever made it to the bar and sat herself down on the stool beside him, looking less like her usual self than ever.

“Just startin’ to worry a fella, darlin’,” he told her in a low voice, mindful of looking caring and considerate in front of all the other men around. “Been off on an exciting adventure, have we?”

“No,” she replied, though even that one syllable seemed difficult for her to say. “All fine,” she added, just as awkwardly.

A frown settled on Jack’s face, only deepening when Elizabeth picked up the bottle of rum he had ordered for her and downed it at a better pace than even he was managing.

“Are you drunk, Elizabeth?” he asked her straight, a little bemused as to how she would come to be in such a state otherwise.

A pale face, slurred words, and drinking heavily, she certainly had all the signs of being in a poor state brought on by such an activity.

“No,” she said definitely, putting the mostly empty bottle of rum back on the bar, “I... I just...” she tried to force the words out but definitely found it difficult to do so, her hand going to her cheek as she winced.

“This got something to do with that tooth you broke in your fight, dear Lizzie?” he checked, his kohl-rimmed eyes narrowing as he stared hard at her.

“Sucth rethpect for you, Jack,” she said, laughing at the sound of her own voice a moment until the pain made it unbearable. “One wath bad enoughth” she said, opening her mouth wide now and showing him what she had done.

There towards the back where her broken tooth had been (following some epic battle that he didn’t believe in at all, but never questioned) was a replacement, in gold.

Jack couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips then, though it twisted into smirk as he tried to do so.

Just when he thought he had Elizabeth Swann all worked out, she went and surprised him all over again, and proved herself even more of a pirate than he ever could’ve known.

“One promise I can make,” he said, passing over his bottle of rum to her. “A few more of these, luv, and you won’t feel a thing.”


	8. H is for... Home

For so long, Elizabeth had wondered about where she might belong since her father and Will were gone; the answer had been staring her in the face it seemed.

“What I cannot fathom out, Lizzie, is why you were so against my killing old Barbossa - again - when we had the chance,” asked Jack as he strolled across the deck of the Black Pearl and came to stand behind her.

“He would only have found another way back as he has before.” She sighed, turning from her view of the sea to face her fellow Captain. “He would have come back for the Pearl again, you know, and for you.”

“Old devil always did want a decent ship of his own,” said Jack thoughtfully, stroking his beard, “but to give him your Empress, luv? Not really right, is it? Us pirates aren’t so much for giving as a rule.”

“I thought we made our own rules?” Elizabeth countered, one eyebrow raised and a smirk at her lips as her gaze returned briefly to her sea, her eyes then scanning every detail of this ship. “In any case, she was never home... not like this.” She smiled genuinely. “ _This_ is home.”

“Aye, so it is,” said Jack with a nod of agreement, though he found he wasn’t concentrating entirely on his surroundings so much as the lady beside him now. “'tis indeed.


	9. I is for... Ink

Jack had a number of tattoos, which came as no surprise to Elizabeth since he was a pirate and surely any such man of the sea was just expected to be marked by some kind of symbol, picture, or name in dark ink upon their skin.

On the other men aboard ship, Elizabeth had noticed various items drawn on arms, legs, even chests, and faces on occasion. Anchors were to be expected, skull and crossbones, the occasional ‘mother’ or the name of an old flame perhaps.

With Jack, it was different. The sparrow on his wrist had obvious meaning, a representation of his very own name, as well as of the freedom of flight. What surprised her more was the mass of writing that Jack had tattooed onto his back; seemingly a poem entitled La Desiderata, that proved what she already knew about his distinct lack of getting caught up in violence.

Still, there was one more marking on Jack’s body that would give Elizabeth more of a surprise than even the idea of a pacifist pirate. Just yesterday when they hit a storm and it was all hands on deck to keep the Pearl from capsizing, Elizabeth had been stood by Jack as he pulled with some effort on a rope. His sleeves riding up with the force, Elizabeth had glanced down just at that moment and realised that in the same position as where the sparrow sat on his left wrist, Jack now bore a similar black outline on his right.

It was not a moment in which she could very well begin questioning the Captain on such a thing, as she hastily gave assistance in getting the sails down and preparing the ship to sail through the eye of a storm. Still, Elizabeth had thought a lot about what she was sure she had seen through the wind and rain, and what it had truly meant, though she had yet to ask Jack himself, just a little concerned as to what the answer might be.

Why exactly would Captain Sparrow have a picture of a swan there on his arm, if not as a sign to her?


	10. J is for... Journey

“This is pointless.” Elizabeth sighed from the helm of the ship, pouring over the map that was supposed to lead to the Fountain of Youth, for what must have been the hundredth time at least.

“Not at all, luv,” Jack told her from his place at the wheel, peering briefly over her shoulder before returning his eyes to the horizon he loved so much. “Surely for those of us who made it to world's end and back, this should be but a mere trifle of a map to solve.” He waved his hand in some random gesture as was his way.

It was a sore point that he never should have brought up and Jack knew it the moment he glanced once again at Elizabeth and found her eyes downcast.

He had long since forgiven dear Miss Swann for sending him to Davy Jones' locker, and had told her as much, in a round about way, and though she was proud enough of most of her pirate traits, it never would sit well with her to know she had condemned him, he supposed.

“You know, Elizabeth, the point of us finding the Fountain of Youth, is not so very much the Fountain and its finding, but the journey which we take in order to do so,” he explained in that way that only Captain Jack Sparrow could.

The change of subject was deliberate, she realised, and Elizabeth was glad enough for it given the circumstances, plus what Jack had said did actually make sense when she let his jumbled words unscramble in her mind and sink into her brain.

“So then.” Elizabeth smiled, looking over at the Captain. “You would happily stay forever as we are now and never find this fountain we are searching for?” she challenged him, sure he would immediately back-track what he had said at the idea of not getting to the prize he sought.

“As we are now is not so very bad though, is it, luv?” he asked, eyes still facing forward and never shifting Elizabeth realised as she stared up at him.

Was he still talking about the same thing? About the course they were travelling to find the Fountain of Youth?

Elizabeth seriously wondered now if he in fact had something else in mind, the relationship between them perhaps?

In just a moment she dismissed the thoughts that he was sure to find ridiculous, shaking her head free of them in a second.

Still, she could not answer Jack’s question, she had no words to do so, and hurried away just as soon as she could find an excuse; she never saw the smile that came to Captain’s Sparrow’s lips as a result of her antics.


	11. K is for... Kiss

Elizabeth could not sleep and had ventured up on deck for some air, hoping to clear her head from a rather vivid dream.

Finding Jack at the helm, as she ought to have expected she would, did not help her at all.

“Can’t sleep, luv?” he asked innocently from his place behind the wheel.

“No, apparently not,” she admitted, barely looking at him.

Jack was a little intrigued by her lack of response, wondering if perhaps it was nightmares keeping her awake, or worries about something he might help with.

Elizabeth hadn’t noticed he had moved from the wheel and walked up behind her, until his hand landed on her shoulder, startling her.

“Steady, luv,” he raised his hands in surrender when she turned sharply as if she might strike him. “Just wonderin’ what’s got you all in a tis-was like this,” he asked her curiously. “Not like you to be wandering about in the dark, dear Lizzie, unless it is of course that something is bothering you.”

The way she was staring at him now was disconcerting, and made Jack wonder if he really wanted an answer to his unspoken question.

“I...” she began, stopping to further think out her words before she continued, “I was dreaming of the past,” she admitted, her eyes not able to meet Jack’s own.

“Ah, of the dashing Mr Turner, no doubt,” he replied, with just a hint of bitterness in his tone, though Elizabeth seemed not to notice.

“Yes, in part” she agreed, “but more of this ship... leaving this ship when the Kraken was coming.” She shifted uncomfortably under Jack’s intense gaze, turning away as tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Jack, I fear I shall never truly be free of guilt for what I did to you then.”

“Wasn’t all so very bad, luv,” he told her, his hand at her shoulder encouraging her to turn around to face him again. “One or two things I quite enjoyed...” he told her with a smirk that, far from annoying, made her smile through her tears.

In moments like this, his eyes gazing into hers and fingers burning her skin, she wondered why she had ever betrayed him, why she had not let their kiss mean something far more than just a diversion.

“I should go,” she said too suddenly, practically bolting from him.

Jack only smiled as he watched her go, feeling he had now made quite certain that if she dreamt of that dreadful day again, it would end quite differently.


	12. L is for... Lost

“I would like to say I cannot believe this has happened, but given that we are under the command of Captain Jack Sparrow, I suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised!”

Elizabeth was completely enraged, storming up and down the ship, mostly talking to herself since no-one else was paying much heed.

“Er, the young miss does seem... distressed, Cap’n,” said Gibbs in a quiet voice as he moved up close beside Jack.

“Yes, she does,” he replied from his place at the helm, watching Elizabeth has he had been these past ten minutes, striding about in frustration, all red in the face and throwing her unruly hair over her shoulder as she went.

“Do we know why, perhaps?” asked Gibbs, a little bemused by the situation at hand.

“Oh yes,” replied Jack easily, “We’re lost.”

“Lost?” his crew-mate echoed, glancing down at the so-called map in front of them.

“Been reading the map upside down for a bit,” explained Jack, leaning towards Gibbs a little so he could be better heard, but never taking his eyes off Elizabeth. “Just about turned a full circle by now I shouldn’t wonder,” he said with a random wave of his hand, the smirky smile still permanently at his lips.

“And yet... you’re smiling, Jack,” the older pirate noted with an odd look.

“Yes, well.” Jack chuckled slightly. “Dear Lizzie is so very beautiful when she’s angry,” he pointed out, “I find it was almost worth the getting lost just to experience such a thing again. What say you, Mr Gibbs?” he asked, glancing at the shorter man just a moment, his kohl-rimmed eyes dancing with fun.

“Aye, Cap’n.” Gibbs chuckled heartily. “I dare say it is,” he admitted, turning his gaze in the same direction as Jack’s own...

...and Elizabeth raved on.


	13. M is for Marriage

Jack hadn’t forgotten what the day was, though he would like to pretend he didn’t know.

Mostly he would like to pretend no such event ever took place, amongst the battle against Davy Jones, Cutler Beckett, and Calypso herself.

In so much tragedy and pain came hope, or so Elizabeth had thought when she tied herself to William Turner moments before his untimely demise.

For Jack, it was almost as if all hope had been lost, having always thought he had a chance until then.

Of course, fate had taken another turn and here was his Lizzie, back at his side, a million miles away from her so-called husband, though she seemed to pine for him still.

There were tears in her eyes as she gazed out towards the ocean, but for very different reasons than Jack had ever considered.

“It cannot be right and proper.” She sighed, as if sensing his presence beside her. “I miss Will, of course, I do, but this is no marriage. One day every ten years...   
And I cannot even wish for him in the same way anymore. My heart just isn’t in it.” She sighed again, turning her head to glance at Jack. “Do you think I’m a horrible person?”

“Never, Elizabeth,” he promised her in such a way as she had to believe, even though he be a dishonest man, or so he said.

“You are much cleverer than you seem, Jack,” she told him with a smile. “You never thought to tie yourself too closely to others, so you cannot be hurt,” she said sadly. “Are you not glad now that your offer to marry me was turned down?” she asked, requiring no real response as she found an odd smile amongst her pain.

Jack opened his mouth to answer her but the words stuck in his throat; he was glad she walked away when she did, as giving her the real answer to that question might end rather badly.


	14. N is for Never

“Elizabeth, you’re being quite ridiculous,” declared Jack as he followed her back onto the ship, his hand going to his lip as he realised it was still dripping a little blood.

“Ridiculous?!” she echoed much more loudly as she spun around to face him right there in the middle of the deck. “You almost killed that man!” she reminded him, pointing back towards land, to the tavern where she had been enjoying herself moments before. “And for what? For daring to speak to me, that is all!” she said too dramatically, arms waving like a crazy windmill.

Jack watched her rave without emotion apparently as he checked himself for further injuries and observed her out of the corner of his kohl-rimmed eyes.

“He had... dishonourable intentions,” he said eventually, at which Elizabeth scoffed.

“Said the _pirate_!” She rolled her eyes. “And in case you’ve forgotten, Jack, I am quite capable of looking after myself!” she reminded him, turning to storm away.

“Young ladies should not throw themselves at men in taverns, Lizzie!” he called after her, stopping her in her tracks as was his intention. “Giving up on that marriage of yours, I can make sense of but-”

“But what, Jack?” she implored him to explain as she turned back, storming back across the deck and getting close enough to invade all his senses. “Be alone my whole life?” she asked him desperately, the sadness in her eyes at the very thought of that scenario almost breaking the heart he would never admit to having.

“You’re not alone, luv,” he told her, almost cross with her even suggesting it. “What I am? The merry mists of Scotland?”

Elizabeth let out a little huff that almost sounded like a laugh, a half-hearted smile at her lips then.

“You and I would never work, remember?” she recalled words that both of them had said once upon a time, though right here and now, Elizabeth was at a loss as to know why that was.

“Never say never, luv,” Jack told her, fingers reaching out to her face.

Her eyes fell shut a moment at the simple contact as he pushed a lock of golden hair behind her ear.

“Jack, I...” she wasn’t sure what she was going to say, more than ever when she opened her eyes and reminded herself how close they were, memories of other places and times when this had almost happened before racing through her head. “Oh, to hell with it!” she said at last, unable to bear it any more as she pushed herself closer and crushed her lips to his.


	15. O is for Overwhelmed

Elizabeth Swann felt as if every bit of breath had been knocked out of her body, and yet she would not change this moment for the world. A contented if not exhausted smile played at her lips, even as she fought to pull enough oxygen into her lungs; heavens above, but she had never felt like this before. For once in his life Jack was quiet, and the thought occurred, when any thought were able, that perhaps he was as overwhelmed by what had just happened as Elizabeth herself.

She had assumed years of practice with many a woman would lead to his being much less taken aback by this turn of events and yet he appeared as overcome as she. Her frame of reference was almost embarrassingly small, but for a lady, as she once was, it was simply unheard of to be with anyone but a husband. Now a pirate she was and should remain, modesty and correct behaviour seemed unimportant, though Elizabeth knew she never would have done such a thing if not for love. The shock of that realisation only served to knock the breath from her a second time, her hand going to her forehead as she stared unseeing at the ceiling.

“I must be mad!” she gasped out, not entirely thinking about who else was present in the room.

“Not really a thing a fellow wants to hear at such a moment, Lizzie,” said Jack from his place lying beside her, turning onto his side as she looked his way.

“What have we done?” she asked him, noting the smirk that crept across his lips and wishing she had better chosen her words. “Jack, I never meant to...” the sentence faded to nothing as she realised she could no better explain herself in this moment than she could fly.

It hadn’t occurred to her that it might hurt for him to realise she regretted what had just occurred here; not that she did feel that way exactly...

Jack knew how to satisfy a woman, that was the easy part in a lot of ways, but hearing of what seemed to be regrets and so quickly after, it stabbed at the Captain’s heart more than he would’ve liked.

“Say no more, luv,” he told her with a sad smile, gathering up his clothes and leaving her alone in a moment.

Sitting up fast in the bed, Elizabeth wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she was very much aware of a tear trickling down her cheek.


	16. P is for Parley

“Please, Miss,” Pintel beseeched Elizabeth as she attempted to storm her way into the Captain’s quarters. “Parley is for those who are to be thrown in prison or put to death, to plead with the Captain to be saved,” he explained, off her request to see Jack in such a context, when all other attempts failed.

“I feel as though I have been found guilty of something; that I may as well be imprisoned for as lost as I feel inside,” she said desperately, looking from him to Ragetti and back. “Does that not count for something?” she asked, her sadness and frustration making both crewmen feel bad.

“If the lady wants to talk, let her in,” said Jack from beyond the door, and with a sigh Elizabeth stepped inside, closing the door behind her. “What seems to be the problem, luv?” the Captain asked her, his back to her as he poured over papers at his desk.

“You, Jack,” she told him firmly, striding towards him. “ _You_ are the problem. How dare you treat me in this way, after everything?”

“ _I_ treat _you_?” he spun around to face her just the moment she got close. “Now you listen to me, darlin’, and you listen well,” he told her, his hands at her arms as he walked her back across the room, with such a rhythm as if they were dancing. “I have done all I can do for such a lady as yourself, and since I am found lacking in all ways in which a man cannot bear to lack for a lady, then I suggest we go our separate ways,” he said, stopping when her back hit the opposite wall, “savvy?”

“Separate ways?” she echoed, as he released his grasp on her. “I can't understand you, Jack!” she exploded. “You want me to believe I have hurt your feelings somehow, though you’ve spent long enough trying to convince me you have none.” She shook her head. “We are pirates, you and I, you told me so. You taught me to take what I want-”

“And give nothing back,” he finished for her with a smirk on his lips that was far more sad than it ought to have been.

“It doesn’t have to be like that,” she said, a light dawning in her mind as she realised what he must think of her right now. “With each other we can be different, we... I want us to be,” she said, the prettiest smile gracing her lips as she did her best to be honest and not at all condescending as she made clear what she thought he knew.

“Want us to be what, luv?” he asked just to be certain, unable to think he really knew.

“Must I spell out every syllable to you, Captain Sparrow?” she teased him, closing the gap between them in two strides. “A man of the world such as yourself must know how a woman feels,” she said, picking up his arms and placing them around her waist as he began to smile, “I was so... overwhelmed,” she told him, her eyes locked onto his own kohl-rimmed ones, “but I had no regrets ...savvy?”

Elizabeth wore a smirk to rival any that had ever graced Jack’s lips up to now, until he leaned in to cover her mouth with his own, their talking done for now.


	17. Q is for Quenched

It was quite the moment to behold as Captain Jack Sparrow and his lady, Miss Elizabeth Swann, first stood before the fabled Fountain of Youth.

Somehow they’d imagined it would be rather more spectacular than it was, but no matter.

The grey rocks sparkled as if set with silver and sapphires, as the precious life-giving water flowed up out of the ground and splashed down all around.

“We found it,” Elizabeth breathed. “Jack, we really did,” she enthused, a little stunned but nonetheless pleased to know their goal that had seemed pointless for so long had now finally been reached.

“Aye, luv, we have,” he agreed from his place by her side, the crew all crowded behind their leaders, wondering when they would get their chance at tasting this precious water, their long sought after prize.

The Captain and Miss Swann approached slowly, kneeling by the waters and reaching shaking hands into the flow; a cup he carried caught enough to drink, and yet Jack did not bring it to his lips.

“Ladies first,” he said gallantly, though Elizabeth looked uncertain as she peered into the vessel he held out to her.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

She trusted Jack enough to be with him, to lie with him at night, to believe he would not cast her adrift or leave her behind.

Still, he was a selfish being by nature and childishly always wanted to be the first at everything - so why not now?

“Chivalry’s not dead yet, darlin’,” he reminded her, pushing the cup further towards her, and watching her nose wrinkle up.

“If this is what eternal youth smells like,” she said, flinching away, “I might prefer to grow old,” she spluttered a bit, as the odour became stronger the longer she sat this close to the source. “I wonder if this fabled fountain is not some old pirate’s idea of a joke?” she considered, noting the distinct lack of plant or animal life anywhere around, as Jack emptied the cup onto the ground with a sigh.

“Somethin’ wrong, Cap’n?” Gibbs asked from afar when he saw the expressions on both Jack and Elizabeth’s faces.

“It would seem, Mr Gibbs,” the Captain told him as he got to his feet, “that we, as a crew, have been on rather the fools errand.” He grinned awkwardly. “Again.”


	18. R is for Rum

“Are you so disappointed that the fountain was not exactly as we thought, Jack?” asked Elizabeth as they sat out on the deck late in the evening, his arm around her shoulders.

“’Course not, luv,” he told her, taking a drag from the bottle of rum in his other hand. “Drinking water for the rest of my life, just to keep myself and said life such as it is all the same, would leave me not half so much time for the drinking of a much finer substance... The rum!” he declared, making her giggle.

It was strange for Elizabeth to think that there had been another night similar to this, so long before she had ever allowed herself to realise what she truly felt for Captain Jack Sparrow. Cast adrift on a desert island, they had sat out on the beach by the roar of a bonfire, drinking rum and contemplating their fate, his arm around her shoulders until she assured him she was not at all drunk enough to accept any advances he made. Things were so much different now, and yet all the same, for Elizabeth was sure that on some level she had always known she would end up willingly in the embrace of this man, and certainly Jack always seemed confident of it himself.

“You are quiet, dear Lizzie,” he noted, peering down at her. “Not ill, are you?”

“No, I am quite well.” She smiled up at him. “I was only thinking, perhaps too much for my own good,” she noted with a sigh. “I am happy, Jack,” she assured him, as if he might be wondering if she were.

“As am I,” he said with a definite nod, just slightly drunk though it was hard to tell given how odd his mannerisms and turns of phrase were wont to be even when he was sober. “Here I have my ship, my rum, and my... Everything that matters,” he changed tack suddenly as he realised he really hadn’t a word to describe Elizabeth.

She was not his wife in the truest sense, and though she was his lover the word was not enough. His partner, his muse, his love? Perhaps that was all she was and more, though the words would never, could never leave his lips in any place where she might hear it. It did not matter, for dear Lizzie seemed to know his heart without him speaking a word, she had to or she would not be kissing him as she was now, allowing him to discover that the only way to make rum even better was to taste it on her lips.


	19. S is for Spouse

“Hmm.”

A little sound of thoughtfulness escaped Elizabeth’s lips as she lie on the bed in the arms of her lover, her back against his chest and their fingers intertwined.

“Something the matter, Lizzie?” Jack asked her sleepily, his energy somewhat drained after the activities that had led to this quiet moment.

“No, not really,” she said absently as she ran her slender fingers across the back of his tanned ones. “I was just wondering,” she admitted. “You have told me the tales of all these rings, or so I thought. This one remains a mystery,” she realised, raising his own hand in hers to show him the item she spoke of.

There on the Captain’s left hand, wrapped around the smallest finger there, was a dainty silver ring, set with a single red stone, probably a ruby, or so Elizabeth surmised. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure she had seen it before and yet it seemed strange that she would not have discovered it up to now.

“Ah, now that is an interesting story all of its own, dear Lizzie,” he told her, with a smile she could not see but felt all the same as he planted a kiss on her neck. “See, this ring was not stolen, nor bought, nor borrowed in my life as a great Pirate Captain.”

“Then where did it come from?” she asked, a slight frown creasing her forehead as she turned over in his arms to see his face.

“Dear old Mum,” he admitted, with a softness in his eyes and tone that even Elizabeth herself rarely got to see and hear. “Gave it to me when I was just a boy, made me promise it was only ever to be given to a very specific lady. One I’d want to keep safer than any pirate treasure.” He smiled, picking up her hand from between them and sliding said ring off his own finger and onto hers before she had a chance to realise what was happening.

Elizabeth was visibly shocked as she brought her own left hand up to the light and observed the ring that now sat on the finger which ought to be for a wedding band.

“Jack, I...” she began, about to ask what this meant, but the words died on her tongue the moment her eyes returned to meet his gaze.

Love wasn’t an easy word for him to say, and it was likely they would never be properly married, but that was fine by Elizabeth. The ring on her finger, placed there with hardly a word of explanation, coupled with the love she saw in Jack’s eyes was everything she ever needed from him, now and forever.


	20. T is for Treasure

“It is a strange thing,” said Elizabeth thoughtfully, studying a golden cup that she held in her hand.

“Not really, darlin’,” replied Jack, peering over her shoulder with a frown. “It’s called a goblet.”

Elizabeth looked strangely at him and then let out a small burst of laughter.

“I wasn’t talking about the goblet, Jack.” She rolled her eyes. “I was just thinking, you know, when I was a child, I thought treasure was the bracelet that belonged to mother,” Elizabeth continued to muse, “and later, the gold coin I found tied about Will’s neck the day we rescued him. When I realised I was to be a pirate,” she went on, staring off into space as Jack observed her from across their room, “I didn’t wonder on what chests I would find full of gold and silver and jewels. My treasure became the sun setting in the evening and rising in the morning. The salt spray on my face, and the wind in my hair.”

“Some of the best treasure in the world, Lizzie, I have to agree.” Her lover nodded as he came and sat down beside her now, causing her to open her eyes that she’d hardly noticed she’d closed until then.

“ _Some_ of the best.” She smiled as she turned to gaze at him. “But there is one thing more precious. Now I have the heart of the man I love,” she declared, kissing him soundly on the lips before he could argue. “Everything else becomes rather meaningless when such treasure has been gained.”

Jack didn’t answer, though he knew what she meant and proved as much as he kissed the woman who had indeed stolen his heart, laying her down on their bed with him, and making her feel more precious than any treasure there had ever been.


	21. U is for Underwear

When Elizabeth awoke, she felt completely without her bearings, unsurprising given the sheer amount of rum she had been coerced into drinking last night by her fellow pirates that would question her fortitude against alcohol. Her memory of anything after that was vague, except for sleeping with Jack, and that she could hardly miss given the circumstances; their cabin looking as if a cannon had been fired through it courtesy of their passion being released with a vengeance.

Desperate for water and air, Elizabeth got up on unsteady legs and attempted to put on her clothes, an attempt made in vain as she realised she had every article she needed but one - her underwear. The thought occurred she might wake Jack and ask him, but doubtless he would only groan, turn over, and go back to sleep, as he was want to do after such a night. Against her better judgement, Elizabeth ventured out clad in dress and coat but nothing beneath, only to be met by a cold wind blowing from somewhere northerly and to somewhere specifically unpleasant! It was only when she was just about to give up on her clothes search in favour of a hangover cure that she spotted Cotton’s parrot, high up on the rigging... with something white and lace-trimmed on his head!

“Get down here now!” she yelled, though her aching head swiftly wished she hadn’t, and the rest of her agreed when the defiant bird just squawked loudly back at her and flew to a higher perch.

“Now, how on Earth did that happen?” asked a half-dressed Jack as he staggered up behind his lover, immediately realising her predicament.

“I don’t suppose we shall ever know.” She sighed. “I don’t suppose I shall ever get those back either,” she added, a hand going to her head as a wave of pain and nausea hit her full force.

Just as she turned into Jack’s arms, with plans of begging his help in aiding her head, the parrot squawked again, as if laughing at them both:

“Take me now, take me now!” the parrot impersonated. “Ooh Jack, take me now!”

Though it was dark and therefore he could not be sure, Jack was certain his dear Lizzie was by now the brightest shade of red, as more than one of the crew walked on deck and heard the parrots cry.

Though the Captain bit his lip in an attempt not to laugh, he found it very nearly impossible, as Elizabeth buried her head in his shoulder.

“I am never, ever touching rum again!” she declared. “Never again!”


	22. V is for Vengeance

The tide whipped around their ankles as Jack and Elizabeth pushed the boat ashore and attempted to tie it up safely to the nearest tree. Now this little wooden dinghy was all they had between them - a far cry from the fine vessels they were used to Captaining before. This journey together had begun on her Empress, continued on his Pearl, a ship that they knew to be home, and now here they were stranded on an island, all thanks to a mutinous, untrustworthy, vengeful fiend!

“I hate Barbossa!” Elizabeth yelled as she stumbled up the beach and landed on her backside with a thud in the sand. “How dare he take our ship, our crew, everything we have out from under us?!” she fumed. “And the men simply follow him, without question, after everything we’ve done for them!”

“They’re pirates, luv,” Jack reminded her as he ensured the boat was safely tethered and came to sit beside her. “They want adventures and treasure. We don’t give them enough, they think Barbossa will.”

“Well it’s disgusting behaviour!” she raved, the perfect combination of lady and pirate as she lost of temper spectacularly. “And to think, I gave that... that foul beast my ship!”

“Ah, yes, but a ship that sunk, darlin’,” her lover reminded her. “Not much use to man nor foul beast at the bottom of the ocean, now is it?”

“But that’s hardly my fault!” gasped Elizabeth. “I would never give a ship I knew would sink to anyone, not even Barbossa!”

“I would,” said Jack with a smirk. “Especially to Barbossa,” he told her, smirk turning into a grin that she just couldn’t help but giggle at - he just had that effect on her.

“Oh, Jack.” She sighed through a chuckle. “What are we going to do now?” she asked him, as she leant into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Plot our own revenge?” he suggested. “Or... something much more fun?” he offered, with an obviously suggestive tone.

Elizabeth could argue, but there wasn’t any point. Besides, there was very little else to do on this apparently deserted island; best to make the most of the peace and solitude whilst it lasted!


	23. W is for Wonder

Elizabeth stood by the shoreline, the gentle waves lapping over her bare feet, as she looked out across the sea. It was so hard to keep track of time out here, whether aboard a ship or stranded on an island as they were now. Days and weeks, months and years, they passed like birds overhead, and fish in the ocean, unaccounted for most of the time. She thought they had been here at least a week, but couldn’t worry about it; Elizabeth never worried because she had faith in her own survival instinct, and even more so in Jack’s stubbornness. He was going to get them off this island, and eventually they would find the Pearl, dispatch Barbossa in some way or other, and reclaim their home.

Still, she wondered about time, trying to recall a night when she and Jack last had a reason not to make love. It was more than a month certainly, possibly more than two, which could really only mean one thing...

“Stare any harder, darlin’, and you’ll hurt yourself,” said Jack as he appeared at her side, the trinkets that hung over his bandana sparkling in the light.

“I was just thinking...” she told him, about to confess all when suddenly she realised it might not be the best time. “I was wondering about the weather,” she lied. “Do you think our shelter will hold if the rain comes?”

Jack frowned a little, his nose twitching with confusion as he put a hand up to block the sun from his eyes and peered out across the sea in every possible direction.

“And just exactly where is this rain coming from, luv?” he asked, unable to find a single cloud in the clear blue Caribbean sky.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer and then closed it again quite abruptly when she realised she had none; she let out a nervous chuckle instead of words.

“Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along without you.” She smiled, pulling him close and kissing him on the lips.

Jack wondered what on the Seven Seas was going on, but soon forgot to ask Elizabeth the question, as she took his mind completely off the topic, the way only a woman could.


	24. X is for Xebec

It was far from the splendour and might of the Pearl, and not half so homely either, and yet the vessel that Jack and Elizabeth sailed on now was good enough. It was smaller than most and had no guns to speak of; Elizabeth thought it ought to be seen in calmer waters around Europe rather than here in the Caribbean, but she was very glad it had strayed their way.

The desert island on which they had been left proved itself to be slightly less than deserted, and by persons with even less moral compass than two pirates in distress. Swords in their hands and fire in their eyes, the two pirate Captains fought back to back against the foes who would take every advantage of their situation given half the chance.

That was almost a week ago now, nearly seven full days since Jack and Elizabeth had set sail on their little ship into the wild blue yonder where they belonged. Elizabeth had felt not a hint of fear or worry in any of this, not with Jack by her side, but there was one thing that was bothering her, and even her lover could not ease her mind of this burden, simply because she would not tell him what was wrong. Jack was intuitive to be sure, but she was baffling him lately and they both knew it. Every day she seemed somewhat cold and distant and yet every night they made love with the same warmth and passion as always - today was the day she must tell him why, and pray to God he did not hate her for it.

“Jack,” she said as she came to the helm and stood before him, blocking his steady view of the horizon. “I... I have something to tell you, and I fear... I am worried what your reaction might be,” she informed him, lacing her fingers together and parting them again instantly, a nervous gesture that would not cease.

“You didn’t drink all the rum, did you?” he asked, looking genuinely afraid such a thing might be true.

“Jack!” she snapped at him, a little cross he would make a joke when she was trying to be serious, before realising that of course he could not know that... and he probably wasn’t joking about the rum either!

“Darlin’, if you’ve got something to tell old Jack, will you have at it?” he suggested, not at all comfortable in this moment, something in the back of his mind screaming ‘Don’t leave me!’ - the only fear he really had these days.

“I’m pregnant,” Elizabeth blurted out too suddenly, and she must have known it as her hands when instantly to cover her mouth.

“Bloody hell!”


	25. Y is for Yoho

Jack never should have doubted that they wouldn’t be perfectly fine, but he had.

For a man, nay, a pirate, who was usually so certain that things would turn out well, that he could talk himself out of any trouble, and win any prize he desired given enough time, he had spent more than a few days pondering on how he was going to make this particular situation come right. Life had been spent alone for so long, and Jack did alright on his onesies whilst he had to, not really having to care about anybody else but his good self, and his ship, of course. Treasure was the goal, riches and immortality, the open water and the golden horizon, all the wonders the Seven Seas could bring to Captain Sparrow, and he had embraced the life whole-heartedly.

Of course, things change eventually, and everything had changed the day he dived into the ocean to rescue a drowning young maid by the name of Elizabeth Swann. There she stood now at the bough of their newly-rescued Pearl looking out across the seas, her hands rested on her swelling mid-rift, under which resided their baby, as she sang softly to herself. Jack wasn’t sure what the tune was until he got a little closer, and then realised it was as appropriate as a song ever could be, for the soon-to-be pirate mother of a true pirate child.

“We’re beggars and blighters and ne’er do-well cads, drink up me hearties, yo ho,” she sang, hardly noticing as her lover approached her from behind, until his arms slid around her waist.

She was startled enough that she stopped singing, prompting Jack to take over.

“Aye, but we’re loved by our mummies and dads, drink up me ‘earties, yo ho!” He smiled as she leaned into his embrace and grinned just the same, their hands entwining over their unborn child.

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.”


	26. Z is for Zzz

Elizabeth wasn’t sure what woke her from peaceful slumber; perhaps a noise outside or the baby within her kicking to be let free, whatever it was it had stopped before she ever opened her eyes to the gloom of the cabin in near-darkness. A little trickle of moonlight between the shutters at the window illuminated the form of her lover lying beside her and she smiled as he slept on, unaware she was watching. Such an adventure she had been on since the day she first met Captain Jack Sparrow, and though much of it had been far from plain sailing (pun entirely intended), Elizabeth never regretted a single second of it and never could.

As a child she had read books of pirates and their sea-faring adventures, her mother had encouraged her, though her father quite despaired of his only child’s interest in such men. It had always been Elizabeth’s fondest wish and most vivid dream to meet a pirate in the flesh, and so it had come to pass that the very fine flesh of Jack Sparrow had come to Port Royal, and on the very day she needed to be saved. Jack had saved her life, not just her body but her heart and soul too. She was about to make the biggest mistake of her life by agreeing to marry James, who was of course a good man but by no means the one Elizabeth was destined to spend her life with.

Stupidly, she had led herself to believe she was in love with Will, perhaps because she knew he loved her, or was it because he was the closet she knew to a pirate? She did love William Turner, of course she did, but Elizabeth had not known real love until she had known a real pirate, and Captain Jack Sparrow was that if nothing else; a true legend and the man who owned her heart from the day they first met, of that she was now certain.

In the darkness, Elizabeth reached out a hand to her lover’s cheek and watched his lips quirk, sensing her touch even in sleep.

“I love you, Jack,” she said softly, without a moments pause, leaning in closer to plant a soft kiss on his lips, before laying down to sleep again.

“Love you too, Lizzie,” he whispered, so softly she almost didn’t hear.

Elizabeth thought she might have dreamt it, if she had been asleep herself, but didn’t care either way, as she cuddled up closer to her Captain and went back to sleep with a smile on her lips.


End file.
